Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, October 13, 2010

MIDDLETOWN -- Tuesday afternoon marked the opening, after much controvery, of the Davita Dialysis Center on Main Street.

Mayor Sebastian N. Giuliano was on hand alongside Rep. Joe Serra, Chamber President Larry McHugh, Planning Director Bill Warner, Council woman Deb Kleckowski and Planning and Zoning Chairman Quentin Phipps Oct. 12, to offer their support for the center, located at 100 Main St.

The business, which moved from its previous location at 100 Riverview Center, has received an impressive facelift. Upon entering the lobby of the building, the sunlight reflects intensely, a far cry from the dark, lower level area from the old location.

The center also boasts an array of new equipment for its approximately 105 patients, including 21 beige leather chairs equipped with a heated seat and moveable flat screen television with enough channels -- more than 100 -- to make every patient happy. They also recline.

"But beyond the fancy equipment you see here is a staff dedicated to taking care of patients with renal disease," DaVita's resident doctor, David Miner said.

Approximately 350,000 people are affected by renal disease in the United States, according to the United States Renal Data System. It is described as a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood and it rears its head in two forms: acute and chronic.

Antony Santostefano, 83, suffers from renal disease and has been a patient at DaVita Dialysis Center for just over six months. He said he was "very excited" to be receiving his treatment at the newly opened facility. Santostefano, who is usually cold as a result of his irregular kidney function, is particularly happy about the heated seats where he will receive his treatment.

According to Tammy Bonet, the regional operations director for DaVita, patients usually spend about four hours sitting in their chair receiving treatment. This can occur anywhere from three to four times each week.

However, it's not the seats that Santostefano said he is most ecstatic about -- it's the television. Now, he can watch the Yankees games when they are aired in the afternoons.

Santostefano, though, was not the only patient to be seen perusing the sites at Main Street's newest establishment. Townsfolk, media, town officials and other patients had the opportunity to walk the freshly varnished floors and view for themselves the immaculate treatment area all to the soft symphony of The Lion King's "Circle of Life."

Above the chairs in the treatment area, etched into the cream colored walls, was the center's core values: service excellence, integrity, continuous improvement, accountability and fulfillment. These, Bonet said, are what the DaVita staff strives to work toward every day.

The new location, originally Pelton's Pharmacy, faces the center's previous location at Riverview Center. It is a testament to where they were and how far they have come.

"This is a quality of life issue in the center of Middletown. We're taking people with problems and... allowing them to walk downtown," McHugh said.

The facility is also more visible and more accessible for patients, according to Bonet.

"The patients just really needed an upgrade," she said.

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The new DaVita Center will provide hemodialysis and home dialysis therapy treatment options for chronic kidney failure and disease patients. It is currently one of 20 centers serving patients in the state of Connecticut.